HELP! RANDALL SERVICE SERIOUSLY SLACKIN!

[T-BONE]

I have a 9 month old RT/250 power amp that fried its board. It went in for warranty service back in december with a reputable service tech here in Mass. I talk to him last week and he said he is still waiting for the board and randall keeps telling him next week...next week. 4+ months without my power amp is unacceptable for a working musician. His thoughts were for me to start making calls and complaining about this and I figure I would start here. I am an avid reader of this forum and notice the adminastrators seem to help out in common situations.
If anybody knows anything about were I can start to resolve this problem please let me know a.s.a.p. (phone #'s, contacts, ect.).
I have owned and gigged a half of dozen Randall amps over the last 5 years without any problems and this is really killin me to have my #1 gear company let me down like this.
Please help.
-
Tyson

 

[unconventional]

Four Months? Jesus Christ. Hopefully that's not an indication of the type of service Randall has to offer.

I personally would not put up with 2 weeks. I'd have contacted the president of US Music by now. I pay and I want service. Simple ha?

 

[Soulinsane]

**** hell, that's a long time. Doesn't Randall authorize techs to do component level repairs? A whole board replacement is kind of shotgunning the problem. I haven't seen anything in my RM100 that I couldn't find a replacment for ,save the programed PIC chip on the Midi board.

 

[okstrat]

Few things...

1) I wouldn't let anyone have my gear for four months and *then* call about it. If this is in error, I apologize, but that's how it reads. As soon as your tech knew what the issue likely was, he should have contacted you. If it was a matter of months before he did, then a lot of the delay is his fault.

2) If the authorized tech wasn't able to look at it and get back with you in a week or two, that's when I would have contacted the manufacturer. Start at customer service, work your way up.

3) In this case, if you've poked around this message board much at all, it's easy to spot the RD guys. I'd have contacted them privately first. Give the company a chance before you start stirring the pot on a message board. The RD guys are very good at helping us out here, but it seems a bit unfair to hop on the board with this problem you've been having for four months without giving them a chance to make good on it. Have you even tried calling Randall customer service on this issue?

For the guy who would have contacted the president of the company after 2 weeks - you're always going to do better escalating it than just leaping to the top.

Regarding component level repair - and again, hope I don't piss anyone off, but I'd be really surprised if the average repair center for *any* new amplifiers was staffed with guys who are going to be able to trace a problem to a specific part on the board. I'd be even more surprised if Randall or any other amp company would pay them for the time to troubleshoot and repair/refurbish the part.

I worked for an Authorized Apple Reseller and did warranty repair for them for several years. We received a flat rate for each type of failure, did NOT get reimbursed for time spent above and beyond, or for diagnosis time. I know that amps and computers are two different animals, but I'd be very surprised if warranty work on electronics was that different. Randall and other companies probably pay the techs a flat rate per warranty repair, or have them rated to tiers - something harder gets you a little more money than something easier/quicker to replace. But if the company won't pay x amount of dollars per hour to troubleshoot, it's in the tech's best interest to just replace the entire module that's defective instead of replacing individual parts on the board. Apple charged us for parts we wanted to keep on hand, so we had to order anything that needed replacing. To Apple's credit, about 95% of the time we had the replacement part in hand the day after we ordered it.

Just my 2 cents. I bet the Randall guys on this board will get you hooked up, it's just a bummer you couldn't have tried to contact them sooner or without making a thread about it first.

Pete

 

[unconventional]

Well it would probably be difficult to conatact the president anyhow :lol:

However I found Stacy, Steve Gill and Doug Reynolds to be extremely helpful. They've answered many of my questions via email quickly.

I found that very cool. Mesa boogie? Yeah good equipment and good service, but they don't even have email and it's 2008? Whats up with that? So far I've been very happy. Bruce is extremely helpful as well. I haven't dealt with him, but read a lot f his messages on here and he seems to go above and beyond to make a customer happy.

 

[jmgman70]

The Randall service has really,really kicked it up a notch!They have definitely been great around here and I'm sure they will catch this thread shortly if they haven't already.

 

[RD/Steve]

TBONE...give us a call at 847-643-5120. we'll be happy to help you.

we have recently upgraded the board for the rt2/50 and have been having diffculty with our vendor. it's not necessarily a randall created problem, but issues arise when replacements are needed.

unfortunately, i believe unless the board itself was cracked...it can be repaired by componant. some service centers are lazy and choose to do take the easier route available to them. (just replacing the whole board) thus causing delays for the customer....and passing the customer displeasure on to the manufacturer.

everything is usually our fault.

 

[jmgman70]

TBONE...give us a call at 847-643-5120. we'll be happy to help you.

we have recently upgraded the board for the rt2/50 and have been having diffculty with our vendor. it's not necessarily a randall created problem, but it issues arise when replacements are needed.

unfortunately, i believe unless the board itself was cracked...it can be repaired by componant. some service centers are lazy and choose to do take the easier route available to them. (just replacing the whole board) thus causing delays for the customer....and passing the customer displeasure on to the manufacturer.

everything is usually our fault.

See,I knew it wouldn't be long

 

[unconventional]

Steve is it common for these boards to go kaput? In my experience it's usually the transformer or tubes.

 

[RD/Steve]

not at all. the rt2/50 is one of the most reliable power amps i've ever owned.

sometimes...it may not be a problem with the product but more of a consumer error. (i hate tot say that but it's true) people drop them...and all of a sudden it "should be under warranty." you wouldn't believe the stories...and sights we see daily. :shock: i have heard it all...and seen it all. it's pretty obvious if it's a warranty issue or not

regardless...we are here to help.

 

[unconventional]

I hear you, thanks man. Mine came customized with a bent rack front corner. It was in a Randall box within another box, so I have no idea how that happened. I was surprised it worked. Nothing a pair of vice grips and some electrical tape as protectant couldn't fix. :lol:

 

[RD/Steve]

you know...it's a shame that when people view this forum...the first thing they see is the subject of this post...yet we never received a call to help the guy.

it amazing how people and the internet work. :roll:

 

[unconventional]

Well I'd ask the mods to delete the post. I agree, the guy puts up a post claiming months waiting for repair, then doesn't even respond. Seems kid of odd to me. But I'm not going to start an webscuffle :lol:

 

[jmgman70]

you know...it's a shame that when people view this forum...the first thing they see is the subject of this post...yet we never received a call to help the guy.

it amazing how people and the internet work. :roll:

TROLL :shock:

 

[T-BONE]

First off I'd like to say thanks to Steve for the # and advice from everybody.I am not use to using this forum. Thats all I was lookin for. I will be calling this week if my schedule allows it. Having a back up power amp and being in the service business I understand things have to go through channels and dont always get done the way they should. Thats why I didnt start bothering people everyday about the amp. Maybe I should have wrote "Is Randall service slacking" implying I did not know what was goin on.
Thanks again to those who helped and to those who cried like little girls about my internet forum manors......sorry I hurt your feelings.

 

[jmgman70]

First off I'd like to say thanks to Steve for the # and advice from everybody.I am not use to using this forum. Thats all I was lookin for. I will be calling this week if my schedule allows it. Having a back up power amp and being in the service business I understand things have to go through channels and dont always get done the way they should. Thats why I didnt start bothering people everyday about the amp. Maybe I should have wrote "Is Randall service slacking" implying I did not know what was goin on.
Thanks again to those who helped and to those who cried like little girls about my internet forum manors......sorry I hurt your feelings.

It's all good,just hope you get your amp fixed

 

[RD/Steve]

well thanks.

instead of writing anything like that...contact us for a solution.

First off I'd like to say thanks to Steve for the # and advice from everybody. Maybe I should have wrote "Is Randall service slacking" implying I did not know what was goin on.